Cash-poor State Can't Help Sex Offenders

Experts: Violators Let Loose Without Treatment

SANFORD — He says he has had sexual relations with 40 children but got caught only once.

That time, late last year, David took off his clothes in front of four children and fondled one.

In Seminole Circuit Court recently, the 26-year-old transient asked for help. He could get none, because little treatment is available for Florida's indigent sex offenders, either inside or out of prison.

Baffled by the problem, the judge, prosecutor and defense lawyer sent David on his way with instructions not to live near a school or work with children while he serves 15 years probation.

''If I don't get the counseling, I know I'll probably do it again,'' said David, who spoke on the condition that his name not be printed. ''Right now, I'm trying to control myself.''

David's problem - and the status of similar offenders who cannot afford to pay for treatment - stems from a decision last summer to pull the plug on a program that had treated some sex offenders serving prison sentences.

Facing a cash crunch, legislators cut funds from the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services. Sex offender treatment was not required under the law and therefore was expendable, said John Wright, a program supervisor for the agency's office of alcohol, drug abuse and mental health.

Prison officials say it may be a year or longer before they can develop a program to give inmates the counseling they need, said Art Long, administrative assistant for the mental health services office of the Department of Corrections.

''We are in a state of flux,'' Long said.

Meanwhile, sex offenders are being released from crowded prisons without treatment, said Ted Shaw, a supervisor at North Florida Evaluation and Treatment Center in Gainesville, who headed the now-defunct sex offender program, which operated in Gainesville and Hollywood.

Records show about 1,400 people were imprisoned last year in Florida for sex offenses, including rape. Last year, 1,600 rapists and 3,037 other sex offenders were on probation or under house arrest or other kinds of state supervision.

''We are in big trouble now,'' Shaw said. ''I think the people would be concerned if they knew what was going on. But this is not a popular area. Who is going to get behind it?''

The Gainesville and Hollywood hospitals, which had been open for 13 and 23 years respectively, had room for 133 inmates and cost $4.5 million a year, said the prison system's Wright.

Private care for offenders also is expensive. One-hour sessions can cost $60 to $100 a person. Group sessions can run between $20 and $30 an hour, said Orlando psychologist Carl Nickeson, who recommended that David receive treatment in a residential facility.

Nickeson said some offenders may need treatment only for a few months. Others may need it for the rest of their lives.

''People who are in need of treatment and don't get it are more dangerous than those who do get it,'' Shaw said. ''There are a lot of dangerous people out there in the community.''

Few communities offer treatment for those who cannot pay. The Florida Sexual Abuse Treatment Program in Dade and Broward counties is an exception, not the rule.

The privately run program treats sex offenders through group or individual therapy.

If patients cannot pay, they may work off their debt by volunteer work, said program director William Samek.

A bill before the Legislature would require HRS and the prison system to come up with treatment programs.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Elaine Gordon, D-North Miami, calls for therapy to be available in community facilities.

But what might happen in the future doesn't help people like David, who said he has been a sex offender since age 18. He said he has been with boys ages 5 to 13 more than 300 times. Sometimes he befriended them for a few months before the relationships began. Sometimes he had just met them.

The tall, slender man says his alcoholic mother physically abused him and that he started a sexual relationship with an older neighborhood boy at age 8.

He said his learning disability has made it hard to find friends, a job or just someone to talk with.

When he is rejected, David said, he turns to a young boy for sex.

''I have been trying to live an adult life, but I am living a kid's life because I can relate to them a little better,'' David said. ''I have lots and lots of hurt inside me. I've been wanting to cry for a long time. I haven't done that in two years. I'd like to cry for about two hours or more.

''I don't want to do anything with kids anymore. Looking back on it, I don't want to do it because I know it is wrong.''

Putting David behind bars was not practical, said Seminole Assistant State Attorney Clay Morris. Because of the time he spent in jail before sentencing, the crowded prison system would have released him within months.

Morris said that with probation, state officials will be able to supervise David longer.

Since his sentencing, a local sex therapist who heard of David's case volunteered to counsel him.